A cache memory (e.g., a write-back cache) may implement a write-allocate policy in which a write miss results in a cache fill operation. In the cache fill operation, a cache line is fetched from a lower level of memory and installed in the cache memory, after which the write is performed. Writes are stalled while the cache fill operation is performed. Cache lines fetched in accordance with the write-allocate policy, however, may sometimes contain data that is no longer referenced by the program being executed.